The four places were among the 19 resorts, bars and restaurants on the island inspected in Monday’s operation on suspicion of being built on encroached land, said Supphachai Suksai, head of the Royal Forest Department’s 4th southern forest encroachment prevention and suppression centre.

He said the three resorts and the restaurant were clearly found to have encroached on public land, while the rest were pending further inspection to determine if they encroached or not, said Mr Supphachai.

Big Chill Resort, consisting of nine bungalows, is located on 4 rai of land on Khao Hin Nok mountain in Moo 1 village of tambon Koh Phangan. Thawil Danwiriyakul identified himself as the owner of the resort during Monday’s raid.

Mellow Mountains Bar, a restaurant owned by Duangruedi Saelim that has previously been raided by soldiers for unlawfully serving magic mushroom (Psilocybe cubensis) smoothies to foreign customers, is also in the Had Rin Beach area. The amount of land it occupies was not announced.

Two forest protection officers look at a resort built on seaside land on Koh Phangan district in Surat Thani during the operation against encroachment on Monday.(Photo credit @ Bangkok Post by Supapong Chaolan)